International Center salutes India's ties to Birmingham

Spa Moksha at The Center for Mind-Body-Medicine, at 500 Cahaba Park Circle, created by Dr. Amrik Walia offers several different spa services and alternative medicines and supplements created by Dr. Walia. (Birmingham News Photo Linda Stelter)

Dr. Amrak Walia was born in India, but has made his mark on metro Birmingham as an entrepreneur.

After obtaining a medical fellowship at UAB, Walia helped found the school's Office for the Advancement of Developing Industries, a high-tech incubator that is now a part of Innovation Depot downtown. Walia spun two companies out of that incubator, Spa Moksha and American Health Research Institute, which together employ nearly 20 people in a facility on U.S. 280.

"I have a lot of passion and love for Birmingham. It's a great place to run a business," said Walia, a former instructor in the Department of Surgery at UAB before forming his own businesses.

Walia is a part of a growing number of businesses with ties to India that are making a positive impact across Alabama's largest metro area. Others include CTS, a computer software company in Hoover whose partners include Sanjay Singh, a native of India who is active in the business community, and Electrosteel USA, a ductile iron pipe manufacturer with an office on Doug Baker Boulevard.

Their contributions are being spotlighted this year as part of the Birmingham International Center's Salute to India.

Center director Iris Gross said the center, founded in 1951, first saluted India 30 years ago. She felt it was time to raise awareness again about one of the world's biggest global markets.

"Education is a big component of what we do," said Gross, whose center has spotlighted Japan, Germany, Canada, South Africa and other countries over the past two decades. "My hope is that we help businesses desiring to sell their goods and services in India."

India has about 1.2 billion people, giving it the world's second largest population behind China and making it an ideal market for Alabama businesses seeking to grow globally, Gross said.

Birmingham International Center's 2012 Salute to India pays tribute to growth of businesses in metro Birmingham founded by natives of that country. Center director Iris Gross (right) and Tanveer Patel, (left) BIC Board Member, who also founded software companies in Birmingham, stand by the Indian flag outside the center. (Birmingham News / Linda Stelter)

Tanveer Patel, a board member of the center who chairs its 2012 Salute to India, said a series of activities are taking place this year to introduce residents of metro Birmingham to Indian culture and to show how to build trade relations.

On Feb. 15 from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m., the Birmingham International Center at 1728 Fifth Ave. North will host an International Business After Hours Networking Event where people can learn more about doing business with India and other countries.

Other planned events include a professional development workshop for teachers, educating them about India on Feb. 25 at Oak Mountain Intermediate School in Shelby County, plus in-school performances of dances and music reflective of Indian culture at select schools across metro Birmingham during most of March. In late April, several leaders from Birmingham will fly to Washington for two days of meetings with business officials in the nation's capital on doing business with India.

Patel, a native of India who has lived in the United States for 22 years, founded the software firm Circle Source in Chicago before relocating to Birmingham in 2003 and selling the firm.

She said Alabama has many of the qualities necessary for business success: a good climate, quality of life, hard-working employees and strong government support.

"The governor (Robert Bentley) and Alabama Development Office Director Greg Canfield have been so helpful to our efforts," Patel said. "They both came to our Jan. 21 dinner for the India Ambassador to the United States. We had two companies there from India looking to invest in Alabama, and they were very impressed. Since I've been here, the people have been so friendly and I've felt welcomed as a part of the community."

SNAPSHOT: INDIA

Population: 1.2 billion, second only to
China. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, there are more than 6,100
Asian Indians living in the Birmingham metro area.

Trade: $149 million in products made in Alabama were shipped to India in 2010, making it the state's 19th largest trade partner.